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62
Smoke, dust and grit nuisances and observations
During the year, 54 complaints were made alleging nuisances
from smoke, dust or grit emitted from premises in the Borough.
All received careful and sometimes prolonged investigation.
Observations are also kept upon the chimneys of industrial
premises in the Borough and, when necessary, appropriate action
is taken. During 1971, 99 such observations were made.
Installation of Furnaces
Notification is required, under Section 3 of the Clean Air Act,
1956, of any proposal to install a furnace with a heating capacity
of 55,000 or more British thermal units per hour. This section,
which does not apply to furnaces designed solely or mainly for
use for domestic purposes, is designed to ensure that any new
furnaces installed shall be, as far as is practicable, capable of
being operated continuously without emitting smoke. Two such
notifications were received during the year.
Measurement of Atmospheric Pollution
Daily readings of the concentration of smoke and sulphur dioxide
(S02) in the atmosphere were continued during the year at the three
stations in the Borough where recording apparatus is maintained.
A record of these readings in microgrammes per cubic metre for the
year under review is given in the table below. The readings are
taken by members of the staff of the department and the information
is passed to the Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research for collation with data received from authorities all
over the country. The beneficial effect of the Clean Air Acts is
reflected in these figures.
Station
Roof—
Municipal
Buildings
207 Lavender Hill
Battersea
Tooting
Library
Month—1971 Smoke S02 Smoke S02 Smoke SO2
January 68 242 83 161 82 256
February 62 342 113 325 83 185
March 88 195 56 191 58 141
April 49 132 50 157 73 248
May 32 110 49 193 35 117
June 38 94 45 147 30 130
july 31 146 49 132 28 126
August 32 67 46 119 26 92
September 45 190 40 146 50 151
October 48 158 71 162 52 167
November 49 242 85 221 75 222
December 50 297 98 269 71 201
Averages 50 151 65 185 55 170